Looking Back Upon Yourself
by desy
Summary: The Inu-gang finds a little hanyou, that looks way too similar to another one. InuYasha is confronted with his past, especially the time after his mother had died. (InuKag),(MirSan) Maybe Sessy & Rin in later chapters (CHAPTER 8 UP)
1. Prologue

**Author:** desy  
**Part:** 1  
**Summary**: This is a fanfic about InuYasha as a child and his horrible life after his mother's death. But something changes and gives him an opportunity to become happy again.  
**Spoilers:** Eps. 134; You only have to know, that the group doesn't have any shards at the moment.  
**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. The show and Manga InuYasha and all its characters belong to R. Takahashi and Sunrise.  
**Author's Note:** This is only the prologue. I will update the next / first chapter tomorrow.   
Please tell me if you like it so far. So far the title doesn't make much sense, that will change as soon as you have read chapter 2 or 3.

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**_Looking Back Upon Yourself_**

_Prologue:_

The icy fall-rain brushed around the golden braches of the old oak a small hanyou child was hiding in. He shivered from the cold of his wet clothes and his empty stomach growled with hunger. He looked up to a near village that looked so much like the one he'd grown up in. There in the wooden huts the people were save and comfy in the warmth with delicious food. He was so hungry he even would eat what they left over. But they wouldn't even give him these leftovers. They would say that even 'this food' would be too good for a filthy half-demon like him and they would chase him away like so many did before.

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One month before everything was fine. Not that humans had treated him nicely then and let their children play with him, but then his only playmate he'd ever known in his six years of life and the only person who had ever loved him had left him… forever.

It was a rainy night like today when his mother had died along with more than the half of the village they'd lived in. It was a long and painful dead. She was ill like all the others and had to stay in their little hut. InuYasha, who was also forbidden to leave their house, had secretly slipped out some nights before to collect the ingredients for his mother's medicine. But even with this medication she'd become weaker and weaker until she finally didn't wake up one day.

The villagers had called the disease 'The Black Death'. The little hanyou couldn't understand why he was the only one who was still healthy though he had close contact to his sick mother all the time. Neither could the villagers. They had never liked him. They had tolerated his presents as long as he didn't interfere with their businesses. But then when the little half-dog-demon opened the door of his hut, his small face red from crying, the few villagers left blamed him for the death of all their beloved ones. The minute they'd seen him they screamed at him, had thrown stones at his petite body and chased him out of their village.

The child hadn't time to gather his and his mother's little belongings. He just ran until his small feet hurt clutching a shell in his right fist. Inside this vessel was red lipstick, his mother's most precious and favourite possession. Not knowing why, he had taken it from the table, moments before he had opened the door. This lipstick and the fire-rat haori, he was wearing were the only two things left that reminded him on his beloved mother. He would never give one of these dear things away.

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Now, so many nights later, his body was skinny and bruised. He lived from the few raspberries and mushrooms he found in the woods, but their numbers got smaller the further the year neared winter.

Afraid of wild animals and demons he slept high in the tops of the trees, the ones that still had some leaves left. The young hanyou hadn't a place to go, so he wandered from one human village to the next, in the slight hope to find people like his mother; someone who would like him as who he was.

He was startled by a huge lightening that crashed in the tree he was sitting in. The light engulfed him and he just felt a hot sensation around his body when he fell unconscious.

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PLEASE REVIEW (5 reviews would be nice)


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Please review and tell me what you think about the fanfic. Flames are allowed. Next chapter the story will have a big turn.

Kawaii Youkai Miko: Thanks for the review. At least I know someone had read it and liked it :-) . Fate will be nicer to lil' Inu soon, but not in this chappie; I know I'm mean...

Vocabulary: 

o-ka-san = mother

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_Chapter 1:_

The sun burned hot on his beaten body and his fine demon ears picked up the joyful songs of birds. He felt so worn out and tired, he couldn't even think on moving his clawed fingers nor opening his eyes. InuYasha just laid there feeling under him the barren ground and listened to the birds' music and the splashing of a nearby river.

'A river…? There wasn't a river near the village I spend the last days.' He thought and surmounted himself to open up his golden eyes. He laid in the middle of a big meadow with high grass - high enough to hide the little hanyou, even when the boy stood. With effort InuYasha sat on the ground and looked up to the sky shielding his eyes against the bright rays of the sun. He couldn't believe it, the sky was everything else than grey and rainy. It looked like a wonderful summer day and so felt it – it was really hot. His wet clothes must have been dried by the warmth of the sun.

InuYasha twitched his dog-ears in the direction of the water splashing. Where water was, there were fishes. So he decided to use his claws to hunt for his meal – not that he had done this before – at least not successful. But this was better than starving and collecting berries that would still keep him hungry.

He gathered all his strength and stood up on his own shaky legs. Looking around he saw a big river and he instantly ran towards it, totally forgetting his tired body. When he arrived at the shore, he saw that the water flowed too fast. It was too dangerous even when he would have his whole strength. He walked along the water until it became slower and finally was able to enter the river safely. The boy waded into the cool substance, not far away from the save ground, and began to prepare himself for the hunting.

He placed himself facing the water rush towards him and held his hands only millimetres above the surface. Then he stood still not even jittering slightly and concentrated on the flow beneath him. The hanyou's breath slowed when his mind became free from disturbing thoughts and his eyes watched like hypnotised in the water. After some moments a big fish swam towards the boy. InuYasha saw the animal and waited until it was directly under his claws to dash forward with all his might and grasping _past_ his prey. The boy slipped forward, loosing his balance and fell with his whole body into the water. Diving under he panicked and opened his mouth to gasp for oxygen only to allow water to flow into his mouth. With his claws he tried to grasp for hold just to find nothing but water around him. After a moment he realised that his knees had contact with the river ground. InuYasha groped with his hands for the stony ground. When he finally felt it he pushed himself up, entering the outside of the water. Still kneeing, his head looked out of the surface. He coughed and took heavy breaths trying to get all of the water out of his lungs.

Until he got to his feet again the fish was far away and out of sight. The child carried his tired body to the shore and fell to the land coughing. 'No fishing any more!'

"Are you ok?" an unknown voice asked concerned.

InuYasha looked up to the two little girls standing next to him. He sat himself on the stone and grass covered ground and took a closer look on them.

One of the girls, the taller one, giggled. "You have doggie ears."

The young hanyou didn't know what to say, but he didn't have to think about that very long. A mature female voice called: "Naomi, Sakura. Where are you?"

"We are here, o-ka-san." Answered the smaller girl and waved to a woman. Their mother approached the three children with a light smile that instantly vanished when she saw the boy's ears and hair.

"Girls, come here! At once!" Throwing a sharp glare at Inuyasha she added. "Stay away from my children, demon." Then she took a long wooden stick and pointed with it at the helpless boy.

Knowing what was to come the hanyou slowly rose to his feet and stumbled away into the high grass. When the girls hided behind their enraged mother, the woman threw the wood into the meadow, hitting the boy on his arm.

Holding his arm tight InuYasha went back to the place he had woken up. There he let himself fell down on the flat grass staring up at the sun. After some moments of rest he picked himself up again. 'There must be a village near by.'

He decided to give this village a chance - or more he hoped that this village would give him a chance. He would beg them for food; but he already knew their answers. But he was so hungry he even considered stealing now. His mother had always told him that stealing would be one of the worst things someone could do, except from murder a person. But hunger and despair drove him to this deed.

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Tree days had past and InuYasha still had only berries to eat. The villagers had caught him when he tried to steel bread from the market. As always they'd chased him away. At the moment the hanyou was sitting in one of the trees near the village. He looked down at the high grass that grew at the west-side of the community towards the shore of the river. Next time he will hide inside that meadow. Then his gaze travelled back to the market with all its delicious goods. One of the selling-tables was near the grass and no one except the sales clerk was there. Most of the customers had gathered around two wanderers who had entered the village some minutes before.

He decided that it was time to start another try.

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PLEASE REVIEW (5 reviews would be nice)

When I get the impression no one reads this fanfic I'll stop writing; so please review.


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: This chapter is a bit longer than the others. I myself like long chapters and in my other stories the chapters are much much longer, but therefore I don't update these stories every day as I do with this one. Now the story will really begin.

Thanks for the reviews, I would tell my thanks to everybody of you by name, but FanFictionnet has again some problems and I can't access the reviews to my stories. I only see that 4 people had reviewed. Maybe they'll fix this soon.

Because of the nice reviews, I'm almost finished with the 3rd chappie… they made me write faster.

Vocabulary:

jyaki = the (evil) demon aura that mikos (priestess') and monks can feel

houshi = monk

katana = a Japanese sword

kitsune = fox (demon)

nani = what

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_Chapter 2:_

"Oh, I feel dark clouds hanging over this village." Told a handsome young monk the village oldest man, Tsuneru, and the crowed that had gathered around him and his beautiful comrade. When he did so he waved his golden staff over their heads pointing to the rooftops.

As soon as the young woman in his company heard that, she leaned closer to him. The brown haired girl whispered to him incensed, but quiet. "What! We should go and _buy_ supplies and not doing a show, houshi-sama!"

He turned his head to her and answered in such a small voice that only she could hear: "But we could need some extra money for that task."

Tsuneru stepped forward and interrupted the two. "Indeed, you're right, houshi-sama."

The monk looked up to meet the man's gaze and surprise was written all over his face. "I am? …Of course I am right!"

"There is a demon that terrorizes this village since days."

"You say demon. We will take care of it." Now the girl got interested in this little job.

"Yeah, indeed we will. I'm an experienced exorcist and this young lady is one of the best demon exterminators in Japan." Told the monk proudly the curious people.

"Is that so?!"

"Yes. But also we have needs that want to be taken care for."

"You mean?!" The village oldest didn't want to pay too much for the demon problem, but on the other hand, when would be the next chance that a demon slayer would cross their town.

"We need money to buy food and we need gir-" Before he could finish his sentence the huge boomerang of the girl had connected with the monk's head. (A/N: Are you guys getting, who the two are?)

"Is that enough money?" asked Tsuneru and handed a little pouch with coins to her. She nodded in agreement when the monk got back to his senses. "Don't worry. Tonight your village can sleep in peace again."

When the monk had finish his reassuring a high pitched scream disturbed the conversation and he and the exterminator went instantly in fight stance. They heard the afraid voice of an elderly woman: "The demon. He stole my goods."

"Where?" The monk's concentrated features searched the village for the enemy while most of the people standing around ran back into their huts. But he couldn't see any demon and didn't feel any jyaki.

"In the grass!" was the quick reply and their gazes went to the high meadow near them.

As soon as they saw a moving of grass in the middle of the field that showed them that the demon was running to the right side in direction of the river, the exterminator stepped in action and threw her boomerang into the meadow. "Leave it to me!" the girl screamed when her weapon cut down some of the grass. Only a hundredth of a second later it hit something and got to a hold. A painful yelp echoed through the streets of the village.

"The demon exterminator got him!" cheered a rubberneck, but the girl shook her head.

"No, I only creased him!" she drew her katana and went cautious into the meadow, finishing her job. Her senses were running high-speed, because one careless moment could cost her life.

Some meters in front of her were a hollow in the tall plants and there was also her objective. She took one final step to see the demon.

"Oh, god!" horrified left these words her mouth when she saw her supposed enemy for the first time. Her katana slipped from her fingers and landed next to the small body. The exterminator immediately bent down to the creature.

The monk had rushed to her side. "Sango, what is it?!" Before she could answer he saw the little boy next to the woman he loved. On his features appeared a disbelieving frown and panic overcame him when he saw the small face, white hair and tiny dog ears. "Oh, god! He looks like-"

"Inuyasha." Sango whispered and turned her shocked gaze to the monk. "He looks like a small InuYasha!"

"Is he-"

The girl tenderly took the little and fragile form into her arms and checked for a sign of life. Relieved she replied: "No, he breathes, but I think I broke him some ribs."

The monk swore he saw some tears twinkle in her eyes when she said, that she had hurt the child. He watched her picking up the hanyou gently, holding him tight to her chest. When she did so, an apple fell from the boy's hand. The young man picked it up and did the same with his friend's katana and boomerang.

"Miroku?!" He heard Sango's worried voice and turned to her having trouble to carry the heavy weapon. She was about to leave the grass and he simply nodded.

Moments later when the three arrived at the hysteric crowed, the old man greeted them with a happy "You got the demon!".

Sango, who had studied the boy's face, looked up and fire burned in her eyes. "Demon! It's just a little boy! You should have told us this!" Tsuneru and the villagers backed away a bit and the girl's gaze glided down to the boy in her arms. She took his small hand in hers and felt it. "God, Miroku. He is so skinny and breakable. I can feel every bone of him."

Again the village's oldest spoke. "Does this mean you won't kill him? You told us to take care of the demon problem! He stole from us!"

"Stole! It was just an apple and he is almost starved!" once again Sango boiled and hold the boy tighter.

Miroku stepped protectively in front of them. "We will take care of him."

"So you are going to kill him?"

"No, stop saying that!" Sango would have strangled that man, if she hadn't carried the child.

"Then give us our money back." Now Tsuneru got angry. His village wasn't poor, but give away money like this wasn't in his way of handle a situation like that.

"We will keep the money and take care of the boy. How we do that is our problem." Answered Miroku in a calm voice, but with anger boiling in his blue eyes.

"But you can't-"

Sango interrupted Tsuneru: "We can and we will! And it will be better for you and your village not to argue."

"Sango, what's going on? What did these villagers do?" Asked a male voice from behind the exterminator. She turned around and looked at the white-haired hanyou and his companions, a young black-haired girl and a kitsune child, that sat on the girl's shoulder. Sango's eyes locked with the half-demon's and in his golden orbs appeared immediately the same mixture of anger and worry that showed her eyes. Though he didn't know why she was worried.

The villagers also turned to see the intruders and went pale with fear when they saw his demonic appearance. "The demon's father has come and will kill us all!" The crowed began to scream hysterical and hide in their houses once again.

"Huh, father?!" The hanyou watched confused the escape of the people, when finally his gaze fell upon the little red-white bundle in Sango's arms. It was a petite boy with small clawed hands, puppy ears and silver-white hair. The child also wore a red haori, way to similar to his own one – except the size, of course. 'He looks like me! How… Father?!... They mean me!' His expression was even more confused than before when a high pitched "Nani?!" escaped from his lips and his eyes went wide.

The kitsune jumped on his shoulder and tweaked into his cheek, while the girl stared amazed at the little boy's face. "He looks like you, InuYasha."

Seeing the confusion on their friends' faces Miroku and Sango approached them. "Let's go. We will find another village to buy supplies." The black-haired girl just nodded and tugged on InuYasha's sleeve.

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REVIEW PLEASE

A/N 1: What do you think has happened to little Inu? Hint, hint: Timetravel…   
Tell me what you think about it so far. I personally think this chapter was one of the worse I ever have written. Maybe I will rewrite it, if you think so, too.

A/N 2: I will update the next chapter tomorrow and it will be much longer.


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: You made me really happy with your reviews. BIG THANKS.

**earthy876:** You have 100 points. Your guess is right! I already intended to call the two InuYasha's different. After you had read this chappie you'll know the little one is called Inu-chan from now on. The thing with the Japanese word mother is that I looked it up in two different Japanese dictionaries and the one said 'o-ka-san' and the other 'o-kasan'. But I think your suggestion could be / is also right and from now on I will use 'oka-san'.

**Rezol:** You brought me with your Shippou question on something and I took it into account.

**Kira:** Thanks for the review.

**kaye:** Thanks for the review.

**LOTRwolf:** I'm happy you liked it.

**Kawaii Youkai Miko**: Everything will become better for lil' Inu. Just read and review please.

**WolfbanesHybrid:** Thanks for the review.

**lil'killer:** Please call your demons back. Here is the update…

**amakara:** Thanks for the review. Yes, you are right, my native language is German. Is my fanfic in that bad English grammar written that you noticed this? Or are there many meaning mistakes? I try to look words up, with which I'm not sure about if they can be used in a certain context. If I made mistakes, I apologise. Tell me what I made wrong, I want to learn from my mistakes.

**Melissa:** Thanks for the review.

So enough with thanks and on with the story:

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_Chapter 3:_

Around the warming fire in the middle of a small hut six large fishes sizzled and waited to be eaten. InuYasha put some more wood into the fire, while his gaze rested on the little boy, that laid near the flames on straw, covered with a blanket. The girls had taken off his dirty clothes, cleaned his body and treated his brushes and fractions. Kagome could have done this by her own, but Sango insisted in helping her. She blamed herself for the boy's condition and didn't move from his side. For hours she sat near him and changed the cold cloth on his forehead.

Miroku saw the look on his friends face. "Maybe the villagers were right and he is your son."

It took InuYasha a second to realise that the monk talked to him and he broke his gaze away from the face he was studying. "What! Th- that can't be, you pervert! That's the only thing on your mind!"

"Nah, nah, InuYasha. Look at him. He just looks like you."

"Excactly that is the problem. He looks too much like me, to be my pup. Regardless of this, he CANNOT be my son, you pervert!"

"I really hope so, InuYasha." Said Kagome in a calm, but stressed voice, while she prepared a cup of ramen and six Cokes.

"Keh!" the older hanyou jumped to his feet and approached the straw rag that was used as a door. While he shoved it to the right and stepped out into the night he heard Sango asked where he would go. "Keh. I'll fetch some wood."

"Is he angry?" The young kitsune sat next to Kirara and was occupied with his candies. He collected in one hand all the red and white sweets that looked like little bears, whereas the plastic bag was full with green, orange and yellow ones. The fire cat meowed when he gave her some of the green soft goodies to eat.

"Maybe. He will cool down. Or he is just confused by this situation."

"Who do you think is this boy?" Shippo opened a new plastic bag and put in the sorted out sweets.

"Dunno. But I don't think he is one of Naraku's minions, clones, whatsoever."

"No, he isn't. He doesn't have a spider on the back…. We have to wait until he wakes up." Kagome gave the monk a Coke and he replied before taking a fish from the fire. "Until this happens, let's start eating."

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His ears twitched when he heard strange voices talking near him. He felt warmth coming from a near fire and a comfy blanket that covered his beaten body. Every centimetre of his torso hurt and felt weak. His brain was cloudy and it was hard to concentrate on the voices.

The last thing he remembered before he fainted by pain was a young woman's face that appeared between the grass and the words of the villagers that encouraged her to kill the demon. They had called her demon exterminator. It was her who had thrown the huge weapon on him that had hurt him badly. But why wasn't he dead already. He knew from stories from his home village that there was a powerful demon hunter tribe in the north that made weapons out of their preys.

He opened his eyes slightly and saw the blurry features of two people sitting next to him and a big hazy red and yellow thing. This thing was moving a little and radiated warmth. It must be a fire, his young mind told him. InuYasha tried to fix his gaze on the person next to him. Slowly the clouds vanished from his eyes and he could spot long brown hair and a pink kimono. He concentrated on the face of this figure, that seemed to be a woman, and recognized the exterminator's face. Fast he closed his eyes again when fear overcame him. He really was with the demon slayers. 'As long as I don't move they think I'm asleep.'

The little hanyou gathered his strength and tried to hear and comprehend what they were talking about. The voice of a male came to his ears, a voice he had heard somewhere before. 'Of course, that's the exterminator's companion!' What was it that he had just said? Something like _Let's start eating!_ 'Eat!' Maybe they would eat him and make afterwards weapons out of his bones. Steeling was a bad idea, a really bad idea. Wouldn't he had tried to steel something to eat in that village, the exterminator wouldn't have caught him and he would still be free. (A/N: I hope the tenses are in the right order, please tell if they don't. English tenses were never my friends in English lessons.)

Now he laid here, waiting to be eaten. What should he do? After all he was half-demon and therefore faster than human beings. Maybe he could ran away from them and hide in the woods as he'd done this so often before. Or he could try to beg for his life. But no, no human before was nice to him and these people were demon killers who wouldn't make any difference towards a human eating wolf demon and a harmless hanyou child.

InuYasha decided to try his luck and run away. Inwardly he counted to three and took in a deep breath, when he sat up and stumbled to his feet. As soon as he did so a sharp pain shoot through his chest and his feet gave away under him. He caught himself with his hands before his face collided with the hard wooden floor. With one claw holding his hurting chest he crawled away from the exterminator, using his other one. He turned his head for a second to look at his enemies. There were three humans watching him with wide eyes; two were female and one was the male he had heard before.

He crawled further to the door, but broke down, when strength left his arm, because of the burning pain in his chest. He pushed himself up again and sat on his behind, still trying to approach the door. Fearfully he watched the young man walk towards him with an outstretched hand. The black haired girl said something like "Shh, little one." and "Calm down." from the other side of the fire, but she held a strange steaming box in her hand.

The man still came up to him and had almost reached the small hanyou when a deep growl escaped the child's throat and he crawled into the corner next to the exit. The threatening noise wasn't very terrifying, since he was only a pup, which face showed more fear than any of the humans had ever seen before. His little ears were laid back at his head and he gasped for air, while pushing himself into the corner. There he slung his arms around his legs and buried his face in his knees.

Suddenly InuYasha heard someone enter the old hut and looked up with a tear streamed face. He saw a tall man with white hair, dog ears, golden eyes and unreadable expression. He held a bunch of wood in his arms over his red haori.

'He wears my haori!?!' The child suddenly realised that the only thing he wore was a small cloth around his lower body parts and some bandages covered his chest. 'Why does he wear my haori? And why does he look so much like me? Is he a hanyou?' He watched the brown haired man back away and sat down next to the exterminator. The white haired guy put down the wood and looked up at him. "So, you are awake." Saying that he let himself fell down next to the fire, his legs crossed. He watched the little boy for a moment with a kind face. The child studied his appearance before he gathered enough courage to ask in a low voice: "Yo- you are a hanyou." He had never seen another half-demon before.

The young man answered in a calm tone, trying not to startle the child. "Yes, I am. Come out of the corner. No one's gonna hurt you. What's your name, pup?"

"Inu- InuYasha." This statement caused the humans to shoot each other strange looks. The child didn't understand why something like confusion appeared on the face of the other hanyou. "Why?"

"Why, what, kid?"

"Why I'm still alive? Are you going to eat me?"

"Nani?" escaped the older hanyou.

"Why do you think something like that? Why should we kill a child?" asked the exterminator in return.

"I'm not a child. I'm an unworthy half-breed." More tears welled up in his eyes.

The black haired girl in strange clothes stood up and walked towards him. Only some steps away she crouched down and looked into his blurry golden eyes. "You are not. You are scared little boy." Carefully she touched his face with her hand and wiped away the salty water running from his orbs. The boy was scared, indeed. He hadn't expected to be touched this gentle by a human, other than his mother. He loosed his grip around his legs and looked up at the loving brown eyes of that girl. She suddenly hugged him and pulled him closer to her chest. She began stroking his long white hair and repeated: "No one's gonna hurt you. Everything is fine now."

When InuYasha heard these words and felt her soft touches he couldn't stand the tears anymore. He cried desperately into the girl's shoulder, while she rocked him back and forth. She pulled him into her lap and held him even closer. The boy snuggled closer and sniffed her scent. 'She smells fine. Like oka-san, yet different.'

After a while his tears subsided and the girl picked him up and brought him back to the makeshift bed out of straw. She placed him gentle down and wrapped the blanket back around his body. Then she walked back to the strange box near the fire.

The fire… Around it there were several fishes grilling. Like hypnotised the boy's gaze hung at the food. He breathed in the smell of the cooking and his stomach growled. Hearing this unpleasant noise, he blushed slightly and looked embarrassed down on his lap.

"Here." InuYasha turned his questioning gaze toward the brown haired man, who held an apple towards him. "I think you need it more than the old woman."

Realising that this was the same apple he'd taken from the market, he replied: "But I stole it."

"Someone once said: 'What helps you, that is allowed'."

The apple was almost shoved into his tiny hands. He didn't understand that. "But my oka-san always told me that stealing is bad."

"Yeah, your mama was right. And don't listen what Miroku says." The nice girl blushed when she recognized his quote as her own. She stood again and brought a cup and the small steaming box towards the boy. "Here this is for your pain." She handed him the cup with an herb-water mixture. "And here eat this. This is much better than an apple."

"Arigato." InuYasha sniffed at the box after he'd drunk the bitter herbs and decided that it was a taste worth. He took some noodles with his chopsticks and ate them suspicious. Never before had he eaten something like this. It tasted more than good and the best was, it was warm food. "What is that? It is delicious."

"Ramen."

"Nani?!" The little boy looked up to see that the older hanyou had jumped to his feet, holding the fish, he was eating, in one hand. "You gave him MY ramen!"

The girl turned around and screamed at the taller man. "Don't be so childish, InuYasha. He is almost starved. - And who says it is YOUR ramen any ways. I don't see your name on the box."

"Even if it would be on it, Inu-chan could eat it." A little fox-demon piped from his place next to a yellow cat. He hadn't noticed these two before.

With one swift swing the big hanyou had the kitsune grasped at his tail and held him to his face. "Shippo, you runt."

"InuYasha!" the nice girl looked really angry on the white haired man.

'Why does she call him InuYasha? That's my name.' The little boy looked around and saw that the exterminator and the other male watched a bit excited. After a while InuYasha decided to ask what was on his mind. "Your name is InuYasha, too?"

Startled the entire group turned to him and eyed the child. The kitsune used this chance and jumped down and ran to the brown haired man. Some moments past by before the older hanyou sat cross-legged down next to the fireplace and answered again in a clam voice. "Yeah, I'm called InuYasha."

"Why do you wear my haori?"

"Your haori?! What do you mean, pup?"

Little InuYasha didn't want to make this big InuYasha angry; he wasn't very nice to the fox boy. At least he seems to hear at what the nice girl says. So he tried to explain in his naïve innocence. "You wear the same fire-rat haori, I got from my oka-san. And I wear only a cloth. So yours must be mine."

"Oh, you are so cute, Inu-chan." Said the nice girl and sat next to him. He was never called cute by a human older than eight, except again his mother. "I washed your haori and it's outside drying."

"Why do you look like me?"

The older InuYasha didn't answer, but asked a question in return. "What were your mother's and father's names?"

"Why?! InuTaisho and Izayoi."

„And your older half-brother is called Sesshoumaru?"

"Whence do you know that?" The boy's eyes widened.

The older hanyou looked deep into the child's confused eyes, before he answered. "My father's name was InuTaisho and my mother's Izayoi." More puzzlement appeared on the little face.

"What InuYasha tries to say is that he is you, just older, and you are him." Answered the brow haired man.

"Nani!? How?!"

"We don't know. You have to tell us this."

The nice girl turned to the child and had a very serious expression. "Did something weird happen? Like you fell into a dried well or so?"

"Well? No nothing." The boy shook his head and thought again. "Except that it was raining and when I woke up there was the sun and summer."

"Woke up?!" His older self asked curious.

"There was that light during the storm that hit me."

"Light?!"

"Yeah, from the sky. The kind of light that is always there during a storm."

"Oh, you mean lightning. You were hit by a lightning!" pure shock covered the nice girl's face and she threw her arms around his body.

"Kagome-sama, you think that lightning could have brought him into his future, our present?" The monk picked up a fish and walked towards the boy.

"Yes, what other explanation do we have?" answered the nice girl. 'So Kagome is her name. I will remind that. She is really nice.'

The male stretched his hand out and hold the fish to him. "Here is your fish."

"Arigato." He looked at the food for a moment than his eyes met the man's face again. "What are your names?"

"Oh right, we haven't told you yet. I'm Miroku, this is Kagome-sama, Sango-sama, Shippou and Kirara." He pointed to each of his friends while saying their names.

'Sango, that's the exterminator's name. She doesn't look like a killer, but I know it was her who hurt me.' The little hanyou looked away from the girl and thought it weird that she travelled with a hanyou and two full-demons. He watched the kitsune bite into his food and wondered why this group kept the boy. All he knew about kitsune was that they play mean tricks on humans. Maybe the little fox had felt his eyes on him, when he asked curious. "So, they are both InuYasha. But why do they smell a bit different? It's only a bit."

"Huh?!" Miroku and Sango looked puzzled and glared at Kagome for an answer, while the big InuYasha sniffed on himself.

'How do I explain this to him without the bees…Oh, yes, that might work.' Kagome turned to Shippou and spoke in a motherly tone. "I think it's because InuYasha is an adult and these adult hormones make smell him different than Inu-chan."

"Hormones?"

"That is in your body and it's what makes Miroku grab girls' behind."

"Oh, I understand."

The small InuYasha murmured under his breath. "Inu-chan?!"

"What is it?" Kagome turned back to him.

"Why did you call me Inu-chan?"

"It suits you and by the way it's confusing to call both of you InuYasha."

"But 'Inu-chan'!" complained the older hanyou loudly.

Kagome moved her upper body and confronted the young man with a resolved expression. "What, doesn't you like it? Or would you want to be called Inu-chan?"

"God, no!" Big InuYasha crossed his arms in front of his chest.

She looked back at the small hanyou. "Inu-chan?"

"I'm fine with it."

"Huh?! There was a time I liked being called that?!"

It didn't bother him what these people called him. They seemed to be nice; that was all that mattered for the little boy.

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PLEASE REVIEW

A/N: As promised this chapter is much longer. I hope you liked it.

The next update will be on Wednesday. Tomorrow I have a doctor's appointment and afterwards I go to the cinema, watching (T)Raumschiff Surprise (= Spaceship Surprise). I think this is the first German movie I ever watched in the cinema, since I don't like German movies. But this one is really funny and is a parody of StarTrek Enterprise (the one with Kirk) and Star Wars and some other movies.  
...so I won't have time tomorrow for writing.


	5. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. Here is the update. Sorry, it's shorter again.

**LOTRwolf:** Thanks for the review. Here is the next chappie.

**flarechick not isgned in:** Thanks for the review.

**amakara:** Big THANKS for the nice review.

**tankbbg:** Thanks. It took me a while to google their names and a good summary of the 3rd InuYasha movie. I can't wait until it is finally out on DVD. Then it will join the other two movie-DVDs on my shelf.

**Rezol:** Thanks for the review. Sorry this chapter is a bit shorter again. The 'sit'-command will come in one of the next chapters.

**earthy876:** Thanks for the review. Thanks for the offer and here is the first question: What does 'brother' in Japanese mean? Are there different words for 'big' and 'little' bro? I think brother means something like 'ni-san' or 'ni-chan', but I'm not sure. I think when you put an 'o' in front then it shows more respect. Please tell me if I'm wrong.

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_Chapter 4_

After they had eaten, Kagome had put both the boys into the straw bed. She had sat there and watched them until both children were fast asleep. A small smile spread on her face as she ran her hand over the hanyou's white hair. It was such a cute sight; Shippou's arm was slung around the beaten body of the slightly taller boy protectively. When Kagome had suggested that both children would sleep in the same bed, Inu-chan seemed somehow uncomfortable and almost scared. But now the little half-demon looked relaxed and snuggled up to the kitsune. After taking in this pleasant sight for a few more minutes she stood up and walked out of the hut to InuYasha. Inside the wooden shelter laid Kirara curled up next to Sango's head and Miroku leaned some meters away on a wall. All of them where sleeping.

The miko stepped on the porch and her gaze fell immediately at her secret love, who sat in the pale moonlight in the braches of a high tree. She approached him and when he sensed her, he jumped down next to her. They looked at each other, lost in each other's eyes. After a moment InuYasha broke away and sat down in his favourite position and leaned at the trunk. Kagome followed his example and they sat so close to each other that their shoulders touched lightly.

They watched the stars together when InuYasha broke their comfortable silence suddenly. "We have to send him back to his own time."

Puzzled the miko turned to face her hanyou. "What!?... Why?"

"'Why' you ask? It's obvious even to me. When he isn't in his time, he won't become me one day."

Kagome hesitated a moment but muttered: "Maybe he doesn't have to." She felt so sorry for the little boy. He seemed so breakable and lost to this world.

An unbelieving glare hit her telling her how dumb her comment was.

"Would he be really you then you would remember being in the future meeting us, wouldn't you?"

InuYasha considered this. "But how does this work then? Me and him?"

Kagome looked up at the sky and its thousands and thousands of sparkling stars. "He then comes from a different dimension; not only a different time."

"Different what?!"

"Dimensions. It's like every time you have to decide something, there is always the possibility that you could have decided otherwise. And that could have lead to a totally different reality." She turned her head towards him only to see his confused look. "Image a fork on a way."

"A fork?! I don't get you, wench." InuYasha narrowed his eyes when he watched her.

"InuYasha, image this. What would have happened when I hadn't fallen down the well on my birthday and hadn't freed you?"

"I would be still pinned on the tree." He answered slowly getting her point. The hanyou said nothing and thought about the new possibilities that formed out of that knowledge. What would they do now with the boy, him? Still trying to send him back or will they keep him here. And then what? Give him to a nice human family and continue their way as if there was no connection between them. Even if they would find a family that would accept him, was it right? The little guy didn't have any family left in this time except him – not counting his, their half-brother. On the other hand he could show him to use his claws and strength. Maybe even train him to rule the Tetsusaiga.

The hanyou was pulled out of his reverie by Kagome' grave voice. "InuYasha… what had happened to him?" He looked at the girl and saw compassion in her eyes. "What made him to fear humans like that?" Never before he had talked about his past to anyone. Why should he now? Nobody could understand how he had felt, when he suffered all these years all alone, hated and chased by humans and demons alike.

He didn't understand why, but he began to tell her. "The village, I called home in my early years in childhood, was more than just a plain poor farmer village. My grandfather was the lord of these lands and lived in an opulent palace some miles away. He wasn't happy to have a half-breed grandson and he wasn't willed to let this walking shame live under the same roof he slept. So he sent my mother and me to that village in his generosity. The village owed him something and for letting us stay, they paid their debs back.

They had always hated me. But when many of the villagers, including my mother, fell sick, they forbade me to leave our hut. They hoped that when I would stay there together with my deadly sick mother, I would also catch the disease and they would finally get rid of me. But somehow I didn't fell ill and when my mother had died I went outside. The few villagers left blamed me for the deaths of all the people. They said that I caused the disease. So they hit me and chased me away. Not knowing where else to go, I ran to my grandfather's palace. But as soon as he'd heard from my mother's death, he ordered his soldiers to drive the 'unworthy half-breed' away. If I were stupid enough to return to his fortress they were allowed to kill me."

Suddenly InuYasha felt Kagome's arms slung around his neck and she laid her chin on his shoulder, burying her forehead in his long hair for comfort. He grasped with one clawed hand her smaller one. "I went unsuccessfully from village to village begging for food and a place to stay. But I soon understood that I was different to all the humans and that it was this difference that they feared. … In best cases they just shouted at me and chased me away. But some injured me and even tried to kill me."

A soft "InuYasha" rang from her lips.

"It always was like that for him and it always will be."

When she heard this Kagome looked at him and loosened her grip around his neck. She touched with both her hands his cheeks, turning his face to meet hers. "It won't be. It doesn't have to be like that again. I don't let something like that happen to him. … You didn't deserve that and so he doesn't."

They starred at each other for long, drowning in the other's eyes, before Kagome finally backed away and stood up. She stretched out her hand and he took it willingly.

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REVIEW PLEASE

A/N: Tomorrow on InuYasha: "What are we doing now with Inu-chan?" – More cute Inu-chan … and Shippou-chan

So look forward to it!


	6. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry for the long break. On a camping trip I got more than 30 mosquito stings and two bee stings. I'm normally not allergic to any of these insects, but as they say on the news, this year these insects are more aggressive and toxic than the years before – and my mom drove me to the hospital when my lymphs in my neck swelled and the doctors kept me there for a day for safety. After I got home I didn't fell like sitting on my pc and typing, so I watched some Animes on tv.

I hope I will find the time and the will to write in the next days. (Reviews would help here)

**Crying ****Crystal****Teardrops:** Thanks for the review. Here is the next chapter.

**Rezol:** I'm happy you liked it. No that is not the officially version how Inu's mom died, only my own fantasy. The first two movies doesn't tell anything about Inu's past. Other the third one: But there we only get to know what happened on the day of Inu's birth. If you want to have the movies you should have a look at Ebay. I got the first two from there. If the American ebay doesn't have it, try one of the European as or ebay.de (most sellers have their descriptions in English and world wide shpping).

**earthy876:** Thanks for the translation and the review. I hope this chappie makes everything a bit clearer.

**Whisper on the Wind**: Thanks for the review.

**Tankbbg:** Thanks for the review. As for how to get the movies: Just look at what I wrote to Rezol. (ebay and so) I really like your fanfic 'almost human'.

**LOTRwolf:** Thanks for the review.

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_Chapter 5_

The sun was high in the sky and Kagome put all the leftovers from their breakfast away. InuYasha and Miroku were at the river that flow not too far away from the hut and fetched some water. The little kitsune sat next to Inu-chan and was drawing with his crayons, Kagome had brought him from her era.

After a while he looked up to the sleeping form next to him. "How long will Inu-chan sleep?" The small hanyou was still fast asleep and had missed breakfast, when he wouldn't wake soon, he would also miss lunch. Shippou on the other hand wanted to play with the child. Though he made fast friends in all the villages they stopped by, he really wanted to have a friend at his age, who was always with him.

Sango's gaze fell upon the hanyou, while petting Kirara. She remembered his exhaust expression the night before. "I don't think he slept very well outside always on the run. Just let him sleep."

"K." 'But I wanna play with him. Drawing is boring.'

Kagome walked to the door and turned to Sango before leaving the hut. "Sango-chan, would help me with the laundry please?"

"Hai." She followed the miko to the outside and left the two boys and the fire-cat-demon alone.

Shippou's eyes followed the two girls and as soon as they were gone, he jumped to his little fox-feet and ran over to Kagome's yellow bag. He opened the zipper of the front bag, not very quiet, and dug in all the strange things until he found his plastic bag with all the red and white goodies in it. Kirara had followed him and sat now curious next to the boy and meowed. The kitsune hold the bag in his hands and began to rustle it. After some moments he walked over to the sleeping boy and held the bag to one of his dog ears and … rustled. A second later he rushed to his drawing paper and sat down, pretending to eat the sweets. When he didn't hear anything from Inu-chan's place he turned his eyes slowly and carefully towards the child. "Huh?!" 'He sleeps like a stone!'

Then he took one of his sharpest crayons, lifted the blanket at the feet-side and stuck the pen at the hanyou's toes. Kirara saw this and took Sippou's sleeve into her mouth, signalling him to stop. But when the hanyou began to kick against the irritating sensation a bright smile appeared on Shippou's face. He stopped abruptly and pretended to draw, but after some minutes had past by and the other boy still seemed to be asleep he started another try.

Slowly Shippou approached the child's face and reached his hand to the hanyou's nose. Kirara meowed furiously and jumped on the kitsune's shoulder in order to stop him. But her action startled Shippou and he lost his balance and fell onto his behind. But Kirara wasn't that lucky and landed on all four feet on the sleeping boy's stomach.

"Whaaa?!" Inu-chan pushed himself into a sitting position and looked with fearful and confused eyes on the cat-demon on his body. He slowly recognized the place and the animal, but still the fear didn't leave him. After all a REAL demon sat on his belly and a kitsune child next to him. But before he could react, Kagome and Sango came running into the hut.

Kagome rushed to his side and petted his head. "Everything is fine. What happened?"

Inu-chan's big golden eyes met hers and immediately his fear vanished. "Em…"

The exterminator crouched between the boys' bodies and took Kirara into her arms while looking at Shippou. The little kitsune tried his best to make a puppy-face but he knew that wouldn't work. "Shippou, I told you to let him sleep!"

"But- but it was an accident. I was playing with Kirara and she fell on him … accidentally." It wasn't a lie at all, only the half of it. He hadn't planned to be caught.

"How late is it?"

Sango answered the hanyou's question. "Almost noon. You overslept breakfast."

"Oh."

"That's fine. Are you still tired?"

Inu-chan shook his head and his silver bangs fell into his face. He watched the black-haired girl leave the room and return some moments later. In her hand she carried white and red clothes – his haori.

Before she helped him to put it on she renewed his bandages on his chest. The boy looked at the cloth for a minute, then he hold his sleeve to his nose and sniffed at it. "It smells like flowers?! Why does it smell like flowers?" He couldn't imagine how this strange clothed girl could have made his haori smell like a meadow with flowers … and that it was really clean. Even if his mother had washed his clothes, they always stayed a bit dirty.

"I used detergent."

"Huh?!" His eyes went wide.

"I'll show you later. 'k?"

He nodded and looked up at her again. "Thank you."

These simple words made Kagome smile and hug him. "You are welcome." She mumbled into his ear.

Just then the rug door was lifted and InuYasha and Miroku carried in some strange looking containers. They were transparent and you could even see the water inside the vessel, but it didn't leek out. The bigger hanyou approached the group and held one of the water vessels to his younger version. "Here take the bottle."

The boy obeyed. This 'bottle' felt strange. The material was smooth, yet firm you could bend and squeeze it, but it didn't brake. And you could see how much water was left while drinking.

When he had finished he gave the vessel back to InuYasha and looked into his lap shyly. "What are you going to do with me?"

"We will keep you, unless you don't want to stay with us." Answered the monk and let himself drop next to the exterminator who saddled away a bit.

"I don't have anywhere else to go." He replied sadly. After a moment he looked up to his older self. "But when I stay, I won't become you one day. I mean since you and I are the same."

"I know, I kinda had the same idea, but Kagome has her own theory about this." InuYasha's eyes fell upon the miko and all the others followed his example.

"Em, Inu-chan, how shall I explain this. It's like you are InuYasha and at the same time you are not."

"Huh?!"

"Explain that with the different demanshons, wench."

"Dimensions. Image this: Every time you make a decision the 'road' of your existence splits up to a fork, separated by invisible walls. On every fork-road you live your life, it's like you have also split up or copied yourself – with the only difference being your decision. For example you decided 'yes' on something and on the other fork-road you decided 'no'. Image that in InuYasha's past he wasn't hit by that lightning and stayed in his time. So he was on the one fork-road. But when Inu-chan got hit by the thunder, then the road split up and Inu-chan was on the other fork-road that also brought him more than sixty years into his future."

"I slowly get what Kagome-sama tries to explain."

But Shippou contradicted Miroku shaking his little head. "I totally didn't understand."

"No wonder, kid. Go play with your sweets."

Shippou was jumping up and down angrily. "Don't pretend that you understood everything, InuYasha!"

"Wha-" The big hanyou was interrupted by himself.

"You mean that there is the possibility that on one of these fork-roads my oka-san is still alive?" Inu-chan looked deep into the nice girl's warm eyes.

She thought a second. "Yeah. You really got it." She smiled happy, but this faded abruptly as soon as she saw tears well up in his golden orbs. The miko hugged him and stroked his back.

InuYasha watched the breakable little boy that was once him. He remember how lost he felt when his mother had died. Then he had lost his only place in to world. This wasn't true anymore. Not his only – he had before that village in which Kikyo and her sister lived and which he still calls 'home'. And now he had his friends and this wonderful girl, Kagome, that made his heart melt. He felt compassion with this boy, him. He touched the boy's head and ruffled his hair. "C'mon, kid. It's lunchtime soon and we still don't have any fishes. Will you help, me to catch some?"

The boy looked up from Kagome's shoulder, his eyes teary and red. He slowly nodded, but after a moment panic came back into his features. "The river belongs to the villagers. We aren't allowed to fish there."

"Nani. Who told you that crap."

"The villagers. They caught me once near the river and forbid me to fish in their river ever again."

"The river belongs to no one. Everybody can fish in it. "

"But I'm not so good at hunting."

"It isn't like I wouldn't remember. I'll teach you." InuYasha took the boy in his arms and put him down next to him. He began to walk out and the child followed. Before he reached the door he turned to the other little boy. "Shippou, come. It's time you learn to hunt for yourself. You aren't a baby any more."

The kitsune jumped smiling to his feet and ran outside in front of the two half-demons.

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PLEASE REVIEW

A/N: The next update will follow in the next days, at least I hope so.


	7. Chapter 6

A/N: THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS. Here is the next chappie. A little InuYasha &Inu-chan. Hope you like it.

**Whisper on the Wind:** Forget the whole dimensions crap. I think I watched too much Star Trek and so… I didn't want to confuse you. It was just that I wanted to explain this again, 'cos some didn't get it in the chapter before. Thanks for the review.

**LOTRwolf:** Thanks fort he review.

**earthy876:** Thanks for the review. You have to wait for the evil villagers one more chapter. Sorry.

Could you please tell me the Japanese words for grandma and grandpa.

**singergirl22****:** Thanks for the review.

**DrewsAngel:** Thanks for the review.

**Rezol:** Thanks for the review. I also don't trust the buying via internet either,but until now I was lucky with ebay. I hope this continues.

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_Chapter 6_

The three of them arrived at the waterside while the noon sun burnt down on them. The kitsune were some feet in front of the two Inuyashas the whole way and now stood next to the rushing water. He peered down and saw a big swarm of carps swimming near his little claws. But he decided that the water ran too fast and it would be too dangerous for him and his small fox-feet to stand in there. "InuYasha, the flow is too fast."

The said hanyou glanced over the river when he and his younger self approached the demon. "I see that, runt. Let's go over there." He pointed one clawed finger to a larger shore area on which two small boats and nets were laying. Shippou turned around to see what the hanyou meant and ran giggling towards the sand bank. He knew Inuyasha wanted to provoke the villagers.

Inu-chan looked over to realize, that that was the fishing place of the people that lived here. "But that place belongs to the villagers."

"Keh. The river doesn't belong to anyone and we will hunt there." When Inuyasha started to follow the kitsune, Inu-chan went close behind him reluctantly.

Some minutes had past and Shippou had arrived at their destination by running while the two hanyous slowly walked and still had some hundreds meters to walk. Inu-chan increased his speed a little in order to reach the older boy's side. Looking up to his face he gathered all courage he had and asked what bothered him the whole time. "So, you are going to keep me?"

"It seems so. Are you complaining about it?" InuYasha peered down on the little boy and saw a mixture of emotions washing over his features, he couldn't put his finger on.

"No, no. It's just…" The child cast his eyes down to the sandy way.

"Just what, kid?"

"Just…that there was never any human or demon, except my oka-san, before who treated me well … and I haven't lived with someone else than her either."

InuYasha thought for a moment and tried to remember. He knew there was that time he didn't trust anyone except himself and he lived far away from all human villages to protect himself. That time had lasted long, many years, until he'd met Kikyo, who finally had treated him like a person not a monster. But he hadn't thought that time had started so early in his life. Maybe Kagome was right and he doesn't have to suffer like his older self had done. "Then you'll learn something new. Sango and Miroku are good and trustworthy people and Kagome is-"

"Is nice."

"Yeah, that's her way of treating people, even strange persons and enemies." While saying that he remembered a certain wolf-demon, but pushed this thought in the back of his mind.

"She is wonderful."

"Huh?!" InuYasha eyed the child, who blushed as he noticed what he'd just said.

Inu-chan's watched again the yellow brown sand under his bare feet. "She reminds me of oka-san."

"Really?! … Anyway, Shippo is happy to finally have someone to play with."

"He wants to be my friend?"

"Yup."

After this new information had sunk into his little head he looked up again. "Em, you are me and I am you. Are you strong and brave?"

InuYasha was irritated by the child's question. "What shall this question. Of course I'm strong and brave."

"So you are going to protect me." He looked so hopefully, but the answer he received was everything else he had awaited.

"No."

"Nani?!" Inu-chan stopped abruptly in his track and looked confused to the older hanyou.

"I will show you to use your claws to fight for your own. – But until then I will protect you."

A small smile appeared on the boy's face and he began to walk again. "Hai. … How strong are you? Have you killed a demon before?"

"Keh. A demon?! I killed hundreds of them."

"Wow. I can become so strong?!" The child looked amazed at InuYasha and somehow he liked being watched with this adoring view.

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PLEASE REVIEW

A/N: Sorry this was short, but I wanted to update so I stopped here.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N:** THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS. I would thank everyone by name as usually but it's 2am and I'm too tired for it at the moment. Special thanks to earthy876 who helped me with the Japanese words.

Vocabulary:

ototo = little brother

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_Chapter 7_

They arrived at the desired shore and immediately Shippou jumped into the river, wading some feet into the deeper water. He stopped when the water reached his belly button and the kitsune winked to Inu-chan to join him.

Unsure of the whole hunting action the small hanyou looked up to InuYasha, who just nodded his ok. Slowly the little boy walked into the river and approached Shippou. Since Inu-chan was some centimetres taller than the other boy, the water only covered his thighs. His eyes fell instantly upon the surface and searched for his prey.

InuYasha watched the children and decided to give the two a chance to prove their hunting abilities. He knew that they wouldn't catch together more than one fish, well if at least one, but he didn't want to spoil their confidence in their abilities.

"There is one!" exclaimed the younger hanyou and looked up to meet Inuyasha's gaze.

"Then catch it, kid." Inu-chan's expression showed clearly his thought 'Me?', but he obeyed and tried his best.

Shippou just watched Inu-chan dashing forward into the water. The boy splashed so much water that the kitsune couldn't see if his friend was successful or not. But as soon as the milky water cleared again he eyed the child before him. He could hardly believe that this boy should have been InuYasha – the strong and skilful InuYasha. Inu-chan saw baffled down on his empty claws. His haori was on the front wet and water dropped from his bangs into his face. When the hanyou felt the demon's eyes on him he slightly blushed of embarrassment. "I'm not good at hunting. Sorry."

"These are our fishes, you filthy thieves!" "Leave our river at once, demons!" two angry voices came from the path in the meadow. Soon after the group heard them three villagers with nets, ready for fishing, neared the shore.

InuYasha spun around to greed the people with a deep growl that escaped his throat. "Your river! Funny thing, I always thought it would belong to everyone."

"Not to filthy half-breeds as you are!"

InuYasha hated it to be called that and he didn't want to let someone insult Inu-chan. He was too small and didn't understand yet the meaning of those words; the only thing he understood about it right now was that these words were bad and were addressed to him. "My boys will fish here and no one will interfere or threaten them. Understood?!" On the last word InuYasha lifted his hand and sized his claws, showing his killing instruments to the intruders.

The men backed away on the sight of the angry hanyou. When InuYasha gave a final growl they turned on their heels and ran back to the village as fast as they could.

The two boys had watched the scene in front of them with different feelings. Shippou was confident that nothing would happen to them as long as InuYasha would be near them. Inu-chan on the other hand was really shocked to hear the bad words. He wanted to escape those men, but was impressed and fascinated by the reaction that made them flee caused by InuYasha. He looked like hypnotised on the older hanyou. After some moments he slowly walked outside the water and placed himself in front of his rescuer.

When their eyes met he asked a total different question than he had intended. "You called us your boys. What am I to you?"

InuYasha broke startled away and scratched the back of his head with his claws. "Dunno, it's a weird situation. But we are family, somehow."

Inu-chan liked this big hanyou; he was brave and strong, protected him and was nice. "You could me my big brother, my other big brother." 'My caring big brother.'

The older boy looked up into the sky for a moment as if to search for the right answer. Then his golden eyes locked again with the child's. "Yeah, maybe. I'm fine with that, ototo."

When Inu-chan heard the last word a bright smile plastered his features because he would have a family again.

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PLEASE REVIEW

Sorry, it's short again. The thing with the villagers isn't over yet. Next chapter will be finally a bit Shippou/ Inu-chan friendship.


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N:** I'm back from my vacation and found finally time to write. I have a good and a bad news for you. First the bad one, if you doesn't already know: Today the very last episode (167) was aired in Japan. No more InuYasha 'weep'.  
The good news is that there is still the 4th movie to come. It will be in the Japanese cinemas in December and approximately out on DVD in October/September next year.

The 3rd movie is already out on DVD and can be bought via ebay. And the English dubbed version of the 1st movie is already on sale in the USA.  
Ok, now you are up-to-date.

**inupup-kagkitty**: I'm still writing as you can see. I was just on vacation. I hope I'll see more reviews from you :-)

**singergirl22:** Thanks for the review.

**tankbbg:** I think it would be a really bit too early when Inu-chan would call InuYasha his ‚dad'. I mean they only know each other for almost a day. I will read and review your fanfic (I really like it) as soon as I find time too read. I've got a new job and when I come home I'm too lazy to read.

**LOTRwolf:** Thanks for the review.

**the-unwanted-souls:** Thanks for the review.

**firekitsune15:** Thanks for the review.

**chibi-inuyasha-girl:** Big thanks for the offer. I will take that opportunity gratefully as soon as I have a bit more time for checking my e-mails and being around my pc. I just wrote this chapter and wanted to update as soon as possible to show my readers that I'm still writing.

**inupupkagkitty:** Thanks for the review.

**DrewsAngel**: Thanks for the review.

**Whisper on the Wind:** Thanks for the review. Sorry it's a bit short again…

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Vocabulary:

o-nii-chan big brother

_Chapter 8_

After the two boys had tried their best in fishing, but were still unsuccessful, InuYasha decided to free them from their task. "All right, boys. You did fine and I think all the fishes are scared now by the two of you. Come out and let me try my best."

"But we haven't caught one yet." while saying that Inu-chan dashed into the water once more. His hands grabbed in the fluid substance and he felt something solid and slippery on one of his claws. He fast closed his hand, when he realised that this thing must have been his prey.

But as before the fish was fast enough to slip through the hanyou's little fingers. But this time Inu-chan looked up to his 'older brother' with a bright smile. "I felt the fish in my hand! I almost had it! Next time I'll catch it!"

InuYasha watched the boy and felt warmth engulf his heart when he saw that big happy smile on the child's face. Maybe Kagome was right and this boy wouldn't have to suffer like he had done. "That's great, ototo. Don't overdo! You're still injured."

"Hai, o-nii-chan." The small hanyou ran as fast as the water surrounding him allowed to the shore and let himself fell down on the golden-brown sand. The little kitsune followed the other boy's example and sat down next to him.

Meanwhile InuYasha stepped into the river, pulling up his long red sleeves. He waded through the refreshing cool water until it reached his stomach. Since he was taller than the children, he was now deeper in the river than the boys have been before. Much more and bigger fishes swam around him and he fixated the first big fish that came towards him. The hanyou dashed forward and gripped his prey firmly, digging his sharp claws in the animal's flesh. Only a second later he stood proudly in the water, holding the fish in the air.

InuYasha turned to the children and met Inu-chan's surprised and amazing looking face. The little hanyou's expression awaked a mixture of pride and self-confidence in the young man. "Boys, catch!" Before the children knew what would come, he threw the animal towards them.

Startled Shippou walked to the fish that had landed only few feet from him away and lifted it in the air. He brought it to the river and rinsed some water over it to wash away the sand that was now sticked to its flaky skin. "Inu-chan, fetch some of the long grass over there and bring it to me."

The half-demon was watching fascinated his older self catching more fishes, when the kitsune's voice brought him back to his senses. Immediately he obeyed and cut some blades with his small claws and carried everything to his new friend.

Shippou took the grass and tied it around its fin, when a second fish landed some meters behind them. Inu-chan ran giggling to the prey and washed it before he brought it to the other boy, who attached it to his grass-rope.

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On their way back to their shelter InuYasha watched the two boys who walked some feet behind him. He carried seven fishes and grinned when he secretly overheard the conversation.

Shippou was still a little exhaust from the climbing on some high rocks that lay in the river. Inu-chan'd wanted to catch a fish on their own, so he'd convinced his new friend to climb on the big stones to be more near the place where InuYasha had caught their meal. But when the two boys arrived there they realised that the water was way too deep for them to try their fishing. So both started to throw stones in the river and competed with each other who could throw further. Now, some minutes later, they were on their way back, when Shippou looked up from the stone both boys were kicking. "Do you want sweets?"

Startled Inu-chan turned to his new friend and shot their 'ball' accidentally in the high grass. "Sweets?! What is this?"

"Those are things that taste really good and mostly have different intense colours." The kitsune stopped and slipped with his hand in his haori and retrieved his goodies-bag with all his favorite sweets.

Fascinated by the bright red color and the fact that he could see the so-called sweets through a bag Inu-chan saw some water drops on it. "Aren't they wet? You had them with you in the water."

"No. That's a special bag that doesn't let in water. You can even catch air with it."

"Really?! How can you catch air?" asked Inu-chan unbelieving and watched the other boy suspicious.

"Look." Shippou hold the plastic bag to his mouth and breathed out, inflating it.

When the bag was big enough he grasped the opening with one of his hands, so the air wouldn't leak. Inu-chan's eyes went wide when he saw that the kitsune hadn't lied and was now holding air in his hands. "Wow."

"Do you want some sweets?"

"Eh, hai." The hanyou stretched out his claws and Shippou gave him some goodies. The half-demon sniffed on the food and looked at it closely. "They look a bit like bears." Shippou only nodded, because his mouth was full with the candy. Inu-chan squeezed one red bear between his index-finger and thumb and was surprised that the soft material could be bent, but always got back to its original form. When he finally ate some he understood, why they were called 'sweets'; they really were sweet and the hanyou liked this taste. "They are really good. Where do you have these sweets from?"

"From Kagome." The kitsune answered simply.

"Do you think she would give some to me?" asked Inu-chan a bit shy.

"Of course."

"Shippou, Inu-chan, come!" Inuyasha was some hundred meters in front of the children and wanted them to continue their way to their comrades. When they heard his call, they looked up abruptly, stuffed all the sweets they had in their hands in their mouths and began running towards the young man.

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REVIEW PLEASE

**A/N:** I've got a job now until school starts in a month, so I will hardly have the time and the mood for writing. (But reviews can change that…) But I will still try to update as soon as possible.


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